September 24, 2012 by David Weiss
Original Article on Sonic Scoop
In the media world, production music is a vital component of sound-for-picture. These sonic libraries – which can range from specialized boutiques to all-encompassing collections numbering in the thousands – provide music supervisors, music editors, producers, and other media pros with a ready-to-go availability that composers and licensed artist tracks are hard-pressed to match.

Many composers and songwriters are lately being offered what seems like a deal too good to pass up: get film/TV placements of their music and a share of sync fees from non-exclusive distributors while retaining 100% of their copyrights. While this may appear to be an irresistible bargain on the surface, it is essential that writers fully understand the ramifications of this business model in order to make an informed decision.

The Production Music Association, which promotes and protects the rights and interests of publishers and composers of music for use in film, television, radio and new media has elected Warner/Chappell Production Music CEO Randy Thornton to the post of Chairman, effective immediately.
Thornton serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Warner Chappell Production Music. As a founding partner of Non-Stop Music in 1981, Randy Thornton has been involved in all aspects of the production music business including composing, producing, performing, licensing, and business administration. In 2007, Non-Stop Music was acquired by the Warner Music Group and Non-Stop became the foundation for the now Warner Chappell Production Music operation. As worldwide head of production music for Warner/Chappell, Thornton oversees offices in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, London, Munich, Paris and Stockholm, with additional international operations in virtually every major production center in the world.

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A potential client asks you: ‘How much to use your music?’ Most of us take into account factors such as audience size, the kinds of media in which the music will be used, whether there is the possibility of performance royalties, etc. and arrive at a value that we believe to be fair to both the user and the library. However, for some libraries and composers, the answer to this question is either essentially – or in fact – “nothing”.

Many composers and songwriters are lately being offered what seems like a deal too good to pass up: get film/TV placements of their music and a share of sync fees from non-exclusive distributors while retaining 100% of their copyrights. While this may appear to be an irresistible bargain on the surface, it is essential that writers fully understand the ramifications of this business model in order to make an informed decision.

In negotiating with television networks over the use of your music, you should be very aware that the networks are pushing for and are regularly utilizing the broadest possible grant language in their contracts with music providers. While these clauses may appear like harmless boiler­plate at first glance, they are a trap that could lead you to granting away far more rights than you ever anticipated and with no additional payment for doing so.